Abortion

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government what procedures are in place to ensure that Department for International Development-funded medical services for women and girls impregnated by rape in armed conflict include the option of abortion services if medically necessary, in the light of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions and Protocols.

Baroness Northover: The UK Government directly support the provision of non-discriminatory and comprehensive medical care to victims of rape in a range of countries, including those affected by conflict. One of the leading causes of maternal death is unsafe abortion. The UK policy recognises that provision of safe abortion services is important in reducing the number of women who die as a result of unsafe abortions.
	UK aid without exception can be used to provide safe abortion care where necessary, and to the extent allowed by national laws, for victims of rape in conflict zones.

Abortion

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any of the humanitarian entities funded by the United Kingdom to provide medical services for victims of rape in armed conflict keep their United Kingdom funding segregated from their United States funding on the basis that the latter is subject to a ban on providing abortion services notwithstanding medical necessity.

Baroness Northover: The UK adheres to the internationally accepted principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence in its humanitarian action. UK humanitarian action is, and will continue to be, based on need. Although there are restrictions on US aid to finance abortions, these do not extend to funding provided by the UK. UK aid without exception can be used to provide safe abortion care, where necessary and to the extent allowed by national laws, for victims of rape in conflict zones.

Afghanistan

Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Warsi on 24 September (WS 126-7), how many Helmandis to whom United Kingdom aid has delivered technical and vocational education training are currently in permanent employment or have their own business; over what time period the training took place; and what constituted the education training.

Baroness Northover: Between March 2011 and September 2012 UK aid has supported 11,291 graduates of vocational and technical skills training in Helmand, of which 17% are female. Sample surveys show 88% of graduates in sustainable employment or self-employment six months after training. Courses cover a range of market-driven skills such as tailoring, carpentry, engine repair, metalwork, IT and English.

Aviation: Regulations

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government which airlines previously banned from operating flights to the United Kingdom having failed to meet International Civil Aviation Organisation requirements have subsequently been allowed to operate, since 1 January 1990.

Earl Attlee: Any airline which has been banned from entering the United Kingdom after failing to meet the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organisation will not be permitted to resume services until the airline has demonstrated that all safety deficiencies have been rectified.
	Before 2006, decisions on banning airlines from entering the United Kingdom were taken by the Department for Transport on the advice of the Civil Aviation Authority. Information on decisions taken before 2006 is not readily available.
	Since 2006, the European Commission has been responsible for banning unsafe airlines from operating within the European Union. Commission Regulation 474/2006 contains the list of banned airlines and is updated regularly, to add or remove operators as appropriate. Regulation 474/2006 and its amending regulations are published in the Official Journal of the European Union which is available online at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm.

Department for Communities and Local Government: Research

Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the Department for Communities and Local Government research budget; and how it is being spent.

Baroness Hanham: DCLG's research budget for 2012-13 is £10.8 million. The budget is being spent on a range of existing and new projects through two key research programmes.
	Expenditure under the department's main programme includes research and analysis on housing, planning, local government, fire and resilience and surveys such as the English Housing Survey.
	Expenditure under the building regulations and standards programme includes research and implementation activity on building regulations and standards, sustainability and the energy performance of buildings.

Disabled People: Blue Badges

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reform the Blue Badge scheme .

Earl Attlee: The Government have almost completed a series of recent reforms to the Blue Badge scheme. Since 2010, this has involved:
	amending regulations so that a badge can be withdrawn for misuse following one (as opposed to three) convictions; introducing a new badge design that is harder to copy, forge and alter. Changing arrangements for printing, personalising and distributing the badge to prevent fraud from happening in the first place;introducing a shared, nationwide database of all Blue Badge holders and their key details, thereby preventing multiple and fraudulent applications. The system, called the Blue Badge Improvement Service, enables more effective monitoring of cancelled, lost and stolen badges and allows local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales to make quick and easy validity checks of badge details;requiring the use of independent mobility assessments when eligibility is in doubt and transferring control of the funding from the NHS to local authorities to support this;closing a gap in eligibility by extending the benefit to more disabled children, under the age of three, with specific medical conditions. Once these children reach the age of three they will be able to apply for a badge under the other categories of eligibility; as receipt of the war pensioner's mobility supplement (which qualifies for a badge) is only paid to veterans injured before April 2005, the Government have ensured that severely disabled service personnel and veterans are not disadvantaged, by giving continuous automatic entitlement to a badge to those who receive specific tariffs of the new Armed Forces Compensation Scheme; andissuing new good practice guidance to local authorities to help them make improvements in scheme administration and eligibility assessment.
	The Government are supporting Simon Kirby MP's Disabled Persons Parking Badges Bill. This will:
	provide local authorities with a power to cancel badges that have become lost or stolen or which are no longer in the holder's possession;extend local authority inspection powers to officers in plain clothes;enable local authorities to recover badges that have been cancelled, have expired, are being misused by a third party or are fake; remove ambiguity from the existing Blue Badge misuse offences so that it is clear that it is an offence to use a badge that should have been returned to the issuing authority;remove the requirement for the Government to publish the full badge specification in regulations; extend eligibility for a badge to Armed Forces personnel and their families resident overseas on UK bases who meet the qualifying criteria for a badge; andremove the route of appeal to the Secretary of State in cases where a badge is withdrawn for misuse so that the Local Government Ombudsman will instead review complaints against local authorities.
	Finally, the Government have recently completed a consultation on the impact of personal independence payments and eligibility for a Blue Badge and will announce a decision on the way forward shortly.

Energy: Renewables Obligation Certificates

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sassoon on 8 October (WA 405), what plans they have to ensure renewable transport fuel obligation certificates are issued in a more timely manner.

Earl Attlee: The Department for Transport considers that its systems ensure that renewable transport fuel certificates (RTFCs) are already issued in a timely manner, and that it meets its legal obligation to issue RTFCs as soon as reasonably practicable after a supplier has made an application. Before issuing RTFCs the RTFO administrator must be satisfied, amongst other things, that the sustainability criteria have been met and that all duty on the fuel relevant to the supplier's application for the relevant period has been paid. In order to be satisfied, the administrator may require transport fuel suppliers to produce evidence to substantiate the information the supplier has provided as part of its application.
	The administrator operates a monthly assessment period with applications received before the 14th of month one resulting in RTFCs being issued, where it is satisfied, on the 15th of month two. Details of how this assessment period relates to the three main HMRC duty reporting periods (mid-month to mid-month, calendar month and calendar quarter) can be found in table 3.1 and figure 4.1 of the RTFO Guidance Part One: Process Guidance (see http://dft.gov.uk/ publications/rtfo-guidance/).

Eritrea

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what examination the European Union has made of the spending of the €122 million budgeted for Eritrea for 2009 to 2012; and what amounts have been refunded by Eritrea because of inadequate accountability.

Baroness Northover: For the period of 2009-13, €122 million has been allocated for Eritrea from the European Development Fund (10th EDF). So far, no amounts have been refunded by Eritrea.

Forced Marriage

Lord Chidgey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of child marriage on the international community's progress towards meeting the millennium development goals.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of child marriage on the international community's drive to reduce global poverty.

Baroness Northover: The available evidence demonstrates that child marriage is an obstacle to achieving the millennium development goals (MDGs) and reducing poverty. It can increase the likelihood of complications and death during pregnancy, domestic violence and HIV, and lack of girls' and women's voice and agency. When girls are able to stay in school and marry later, they have fewer children, higher incomes and their children are healthier.
	The DfID annual report includes information on global progress towards the MDGs, as well as progress in DfID priority countries. Information on global progress can be found in Chapter 1, with progress in DfID's priority countries in chapter 2.
	The DfID's annual report for 2011-12 can be found at: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/About-us/How-we- measure-progress/Annual-report.

Government Departments: Overseas Offices

Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Northover on 24 September (WA 250), why it is necessary for the Department for International Development to maintain an office in China that is not co-located with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Baroness Northover: Currently the DfID Office in Beijing is in a building that also accommodates, amongst other organisations, the UK Border Agency and the embassy's consular section. It is both DfID's and the FCO's intention for the DfID office to move to the main embassy compound as soon as possible.

Haqqani Network

Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are considering proscribing the Haqqani network as a terrorist organisation following the decision of the Government of the United States to do so.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: It is Government policy not to comment on whether an organisation is, or is not, under consideration for proscription.

Health: Family Planning

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the estimate by Dr Saifuddin Ahmed and others (The Lancet, 14 July 2012) that satisfying unmet need for contraception could prevent another 104,000 maternal deaths per year.

Baroness Northover: The coalition Government recognise that The Lancet article raises some important issues. Its findings, that meeting the unmet need for contraception would reduce maternal deaths by around a third, are similar to recent estimates from other credible sources. This is one of the reasons why, at the London summit on family planning in July 2012, the UK committed to an additional £516 million over eight years towards the summit goal of enabling an additional 120 million women to be using modern methods of family planning by 2020.

Housing: Private Rented Sector

Lord Browne of Ladyton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking in respect of the affordability of rents in the private rented sector.

Baroness Hanham: The most recent official statistics published by the Valuation Office Agency in August 2012 show that median private sector rents across England rose by 0.9% in the year to June 2012, compared to a rise in RPI inflation of 2.8% over the same period. Rents have thus fallen in real terms, although there are local variations. The package of measures we announced on 6 September aims to ensure that demand is matched by an increasing supply of new build homes for rent. The package includes a £200 million equity fund, coupled with £10 billion in government guarantees to stimulate the development of new build homes for rent.

Libya

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government in how many missions to Libya by United Kingdom forces during recent conflict bombs were released and exploded; what were the types of targets and weights of bombs, and how effective was their use.

Lord Astor of Hever: During the 2011 Libyan campaign the Royal Air Force conducted approximately 3,070 sorties, of which 2,120 were combat sorties.
	During this operation, the UK's precision guided bombing capability was provided by Enhanced Paveway II and Paveway IV that contain a 10001b and 5001b warhead respectively.
	The UK employed around 900 Paveway IV and 240 Paveway II munitions during the operation. We carefully select the type of weapon in every engagement to ensure the most appropriate munition is used to deliver the required effect, while minimising the risk of civilian casualties.
	All our actions in Libya were tightly governed by the terms of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1973 and all targets were chosen to protect the civilian population. The targets ranged from command and control structures through to military barracks and individual vehicles and weapon systems.
	All the precision weapons systems performed well during operations in Libya achieving a very high success rate and making a substantial contribution to the NATO mission to enforce UNSCR 1973 and protect the civilian population of Libya.

Office for Budget Responsibility

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will ask the Office for Budget Responsibility to review its assumption of 0.6 for the fiscal multiplier, in the light of the International Monetary Fund's most recent fiscal monitor; and whether they agree with the IMF's assessment of a reduction in the sustainable growth potential of the United Kingdom economy and an increase in the cyclical deficit.

Lord Sassoon: The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is tasked with the duty to examine and report on the sustainability of the public finances, including the production of the official economic and fiscal forecasts. As set out in the Charter for Budget Responsibility, the OBR's independence provides it with complete discretion to determine the methodology used to produce its forecasts, assessments and analyses and the judgments made in developing these forecasts.
	The OBR will publish updated forecasts alongside the autumn statement on 5 December.

Overseas Aid

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much funding annually is given by the United Kingdom to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to provide humanitarian services for wounded and sick persons in armed conflict, and whether such funds are kept separate from United States funds to the ICRC which cannot be used to provide abortion services where medically necessary.

Baroness Northover: In 2011-12, the Department for International Development (DfID) has provided £40 million of core funding to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to ensure the needs of victims of armed conflict are met. In addition, DfID has provided additional funds to respond to specific country appeals. It is for ICRC to allocate its funds according to need.
	Although there are restrictions on US aid to finance abortions, these do not extend to funding provided by the UK. UK aid without exception can be used to provide safe abortion care, where necessary and to the extent allowed by national laws, for victims of rape in conflict zones.

Overseas Aid

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they take in funding humanitarian aid for women and girls raped in armed conflict to ensure that the funding complies with the non-discrimination standards on medical care for the wounded and sick in armed conflict in accordance with the Geneva Conventions Act 1957 as amended and the Joint Service Manual on the Law of Armed Conflict.

Baroness Northover: UK humanitarian action is, and will continue to be, based on need and need alone, autonomous from political, military, security or economic objectives. In armed conflict, where international humanitarian law takes precedence over national laws, UK aid can be used, without exception, to provide safe abortion care for victims of rape as part of non-discriminatory medical care.

Overseas Aid

Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Northover on 24 September (WA 273-74), whether the Department for International Development's bilateral spend on democracy solely funds elections.

Baroness Northover: The department's bilateral spend on democracy does not solely fund elections. DfID support covers a broad range of initiatives relevant to democratic development, such as support for the media and legislatures. Support to strengthen national civil society and respect for human rights, both essential to democratic development, is categorised and measured separately.

Railways: High Speed 2

Lord Dykes: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to hold consultative meetings with Deutsche Bahn, SNCF, RENFE and FS-Italia to share technical advice on the development of HS2.

Earl Attlee: HS2 Ltd, which is responsible for the development of HS2, has informal discussions with all of the organisations mentioned in my noble friend's question. Deutsche Bahn International is currently contributing through a consultancy basis.
	HS2 Ltd is affiliated to the High Speed Rail Directorate in the International Railway Union to which all the HSR parties mentioned belong.

Railways: Passenger Research

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of their research, Public Attitudes Towards Train Services, published on 27 September, whether there is any overlap of research into railway passengers' experiences between the Department for Transport, Office of Rail Regulation and Passenger Focus; and what assessment they have made of the implications of consolidating passenger research on costs and research quality.

Earl Attlee: The recent Department for Transport (DfT) research covered general attitudes towards rail trips in the United Kingdom. It considered short distance journeys of 50 miles or less and long distance journeys of more than 50 miles. It also explored how rail users and non-users rated different aspects of rail services. As such, it complements other sources of evidence, most notably Passenger Focus's National Passenger Survey (NPS), which focuses only on the experiences and views of users of rail services on specific individual journeys. The department's study has been repeated three times in total at three-yearly intervals, whereas the NPS is a much more extensive twice-yearly survey, and is the rail industry's primary source of evidence on rail passenger attitudes.
	DfT uses a wide range of evidence sources on attitudes and behaviours to inform its specific organisational objectives, as will Passenger Focus. This will, of course, mean that joint research projects are not always appropriate. However, across the rail industry there a number of examples of collaborations on research topics of mutual interest. In particular, the Passenger Demand Forecasting Council that represents a very wide group of industry stakeholders regularly commissions joint research projects. The Rail Statistics Management Group led by the Office of Rail Regulation also provides a forum for rail organisations to share and refine research plans.

Rape

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they treat women and girls made pregnant through rape in armed conflict as victims of torture within the scope of the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Punishment.

Baroness Northover: Article 14 (1) of the Convention Against Torture provides that states shall ensure in their legal systems that the victim of an act of torture obtains the means for "as full rehabilitation as possible". The means of rehabilitation and whether or not torture has taken place depends on the facts of the individual case.
	The Department for International Development (DfID) directly supports the provision of non-discriminatory medical care to victims of rape in a range of countries, including those affected by conflict.

Roads: High Visibility Jackets

Lord Dykes: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they support the use of high visibility safety jackets by motorists suffering breakdowns on busy roads and motorways; and what assessment they have made of the frequency of their use.

Earl Attlee: The Government do support the use of high visibility safety jackets by motorists suffering breakdowns on busy roads and motorways.
	Rule 274 of The Official Highway Code advises that if your vehicle breaks down, you should think first of all other road users and, help other road users see you by wearing light-coloured or fluorescent clothing in daylight and reflective clothing at night or in poor visibility.
	No assessment has been made of the frequency of their use.

Roads: Unnumbered Junctions

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Attlee on 9 October (WA 417-8), why the road junctions listed are unnumbered.

Earl Attlee: The vast majority of junctions on the English motorway network are numbered where road users are offered a clear choice to change route or direction. There are a small number of locations which are quirks of the network-for example at the end of some motorways or where, over time, routes have been upgraded to motorway standard but junctions with other routes remain signed but unnumbered.
	The reason for not numbering a junction will have been specific to the location at the time the junction was created. It is therefore difficult to be precise as to why the junction is unnumbered.

Rwanda

Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Northover on 24 September (WA 384), whether the Department for International Development has undertaken a study into fungibility concerns with its general and sector budget support to Rwanda.

Baroness Northover: The Department for International Development (DfID) is aware of issues around fungibility and measures are put in place to mitigate the risk before DfID agrees to provide budget support.

Severe Winter Weather

Lord Condon: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of local government contingency arrangements to minimise traffic disruption in the event of unusually adverse weather conditions this winter.

Earl Attlee: The Department for Transport has worked with local and national partners to improve winter resilience, so that this country enters the forthcoming winter season well prepared. This includes having a national strategic salt reserve, working closely with local highway authorities to monitor salt stocks and raising awareness of guidance to enable them to make the best use of their salt supplies. The Local Government Association has also set up a forum which allows authorities to share best practice on winter resilience measures.
	In addition, winter planning is ongoing more widely across government. Officials from UK government departments, the devolved Administrations and the Local Government Association meet regularly to review winter preparation plans and to discuss cross-cutting issues.
	The Department for Communities and Local Government is also in regular liaison with Local Resilience Forums to ensure effective delivery of duties under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 to plan, prepare and communicate to reduce the risks from any emergencies.

Severe Winter Weather

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have made to ensure that the United Kingdom's transport system is able to cope with challenging weather conditions this winter.

Earl Attlee: The Department for Transport has been working with public and private sector organisations, across the various transport modes, the local government sector, salt suppliers and other key partners to boost resilience and preparedness for winter weather.
	All transport modes have refined and promoted their operational command and control procedures to improve their response to severe weather.
	The department continues to monitor salt stock holdings on a regular basis. Our analysis from a recent stock survey suggests that the Highways Agency (HA) and local highway authorities are holding robust salt stocks and will enter the winter with a healthy salt supply. The department has also retained a strategic salt stockpile of around 305,000 tonnes for this winter season with a further contingency of 120,000 tonnes being held by the HA (in addition to their operational stock).
	The HA is currently finalising for announcement, later this month, its winter driving campaign and proposals for communicating effective weather messages to road users. The HA has over 500 winter service vehicles for use on the network and in each of its regions severe weather plans have been drawn up for responding to severe weather conditions.
	In 2011 the department provided £16 million funding for additional third rail heating across the Kent, Sussex and Wessex routes as part of a £38 million programme of investment by Network Rail to improve the resilience of the network. Additional steps taken by Network Rail and the train operating companies to improve winter resilience include the overhaul and enhancement of equipment on track, trains and signals, the provision of specialised trains for snow and ice treatment and clearance, improvements to the implementation of contingency timetables, and to the provision of information to passengers during disruption.
	Heathrow and Gatwick airports have produced resilience investment plans in which they have committed-respectively, £50 million and £8 million-in additional snow and ice clearance capacity, staffing for snow clearance and new operational procedures.
	In the maritime sector, departmental officials work closely with port operators to ensure they build on lessons learned from previous winters and have the right winter management plans in place.
	Finally the department works closely with colleagues across various departments and agencies on cross-cutting issues to ensure preparedness for any severe weather this winter through our engagement in the Winter Resilience Network (WRN). The network (facilitated by the Cabinet Office) collectively anticipates, monitors and manages the impacts of cold weather across sectors, including the transport system. It starts meeting regularly in October, and will also be responsible for co-ordinating the Get Ready for Winter campaign. The campaign, which will run from later this month, is a partnership initiative involving government departments, their agencies and voluntary sector partners to raise awareness of winter risks and encourage people to think about what winter preparations they can make.
	Ministers are regularly briefed on progress, and mechanisms are in place to coordinate further activities should the need arise.
	Whilst we cannot, at this stage, say with certainty what the coming winter will be like, severe cold weather will always cause some disruption but the actions taken will ensure that the country's transport systems are better equipped to cope with them.

Shipping: Ship-to-Ship Transfers

Lord Condon: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the operation of ship-to-ship transfers of oil off the coast of Southwold, Suffolk, and whether there have been any Marine and Coastguard Agency surveyor interventions in that area in the past 12 months necessitating the boarding of vessels to carry out a port state control inspection.

Earl Attlee: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) continues to review the adequacy of the present arrangements for ship to ship transfers (STS) off the coast of Southwold, Suffolk, and to monitor the safe conduct of operations in this area.
	In the past 12 months MCA marine surveyors have boarded four vessels off Southwold to carry out routine port state control inspections prior to the start of an STS operation.

Sport: Aston Arena

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they will take to ensure that the Homes and Community Agency will enable the Aston Arena on the Serpentine Site in Birmingham to be retained for sporting purposes after disposal, given the lack of any other dedicated community sport or physical activity facilities within the Aston area.

Baroness Hanham: The Homes and Communities Agency's intention is to dispose of the Aston Arena for demolition in support of the wider development under Birmingham City Council's area action plan for Aston, to promote economic growth and jobs in a deprived part of Birmingham.
	I am advised that Birmingham City Council and its partners have invested in new community and leisure buildings in the vicinity of the arena, and that city council officers are working with the user groups occupying the arena, to help with their relocation to alternative premises.
	The Aston Arena building itself, which is currently owned by the Homes and Communities Agency is in a state of disrepair, and the agency has recently issued an order to close the building as there is a strong health and safety risk of continued public use.

Syria

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they consider that the resources available for meeting the needs of Syrian refugees and displaced people are adequate; and, if not, what action they will take to increase them.

Baroness Northover: There are over 336,000 Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries and 1.2 million internally displaced people in Syria. Numbers are rising daily as the violence continues, and the needs are increasing as winter approaches. The UK is the second largest bilateral donor, providing £39.5 million in humanitarian aid. £18 million of this is for refugees. Our aid will contribute to trauma support for 28,000 children, emergency food rations for over 18,000 people, drinking water, sanitation and hygiene for over 33,000 refugees, and basic supplies for mothers and babies. For displaced people in Syria, UK funding is helping to provide food for 80,000 people a month and shelter for 9,000 families.
	Aid is getting through, despite continued restrictions by the Syrian Government and the challenges of insecurity. However, much more funding is needed as the UN continues to scale up to meet the rising needs. The UN's current refugee appeal is just 29% funded. The Secretary of State for International Development recently attended a meeting in the margins of the UN General Assembly to encourage others in the international community to contribute more. We will continue to work with humanitarian agencies and international partners to push for greater levels of funding for the appeals.